Wind Speeds

In a region where windstorms are common during the winter season, the event that unfolded November 17, 2015 truly stands out as a historic one for eastern Washington and north Idaho.  The perfect alignment of atmospheric conditions occurred for a high impact event.  The National Weather Service (NWS) Office in Spokane, WA worked with county and city officials and the local media to warn of the imminent threat. 

Max Wind Gust at Geiger 71 MPH - Nov 17th,2015. - After 00Z gusts were manually taken and woefully underdone.

Power Outages

238,000 total customers without power.

83% of customers in the hardest hit area of Spokane were without power for 5 days after the storm. The average customer without power was out for 3 to 5 days.

Other Impacts

Spokane Public Schools cancelled school for 5 days because of the windstorm (in the days following). There were 36 Spokane Public Schools without power or phone service, or both, the day after the storm with a total of 54 schools in the district. It is estimated 7 trees fell on schools in the district. At Riverfront Park an estimated 28 trees were downed or seriously damaged. Riverfront Park has a total acreage footprint of 100 acres (at this time). At Comstock Park on the South Hill, in a total of 24.75 acres, 30 trees were lost.

NWS Spokane Messaging

Prior to the windstorm, Meteorologists took to the Inland Northwest Weather Blog to update and further enhance the message. The high confidence for this historic wind event allowed Forecasters and Meteorologists to utilize every tool available. You can read the Blog post here:Widespread Damaging Wind Storm Tuesday Nov 17 2015.

Upper Air Balloon Launch Video

Video of the 00Z (3 PM) Upper Air balloon launch at NWS Spokane on November 17, 2025.NWS Spokane Upper Air balloon launch 3 PM Nov 17th, 2025.